And I'm talking about something much more interesting than Jesus: the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans.

Deinococcus radiodurans is a bacterium capable of surviving in most extreme life conditions, including radiation dozes up to 5 000 times higher than those lethal for humans. Extreme radiation cleaves DNA cells into hundreds of fragments, which means death for the cell. The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is the only one to have "learned" how to reassemble, in an appropriate sequence, all the hundreds of pieces of its DNA into a functioning genome, and Radman's team has figured out how the process of surviving the death functions.

A group of researchers lead by Professor Miroslav Radman has discovered a mechanism enabling the "clinically dead" cell of the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans to "rise from the dead". The discovery of Professor Radman and his colleagues will be published on October 5th in the "Nature", a world's leading science journal.

As the discovery is estimated to strike a responsive chord among scientists, the editorial board of the "Nature" issued a release to leading global media one week ahead.

Deinococcus radiodurans is an extremophile bacterium, which means that it is adapted to extreme life conditions. For instance, it is capable of surviving in both desert sand and rocky landscape, where extreme desiccation and long-term exposure to the UV radiation emitted by the sun would make the survival of any other organism impossible.

- Extreme bouts of desiccation and ionizing radiation cleave the DNA of each cell in into hundreds of pieces, including the cell of Deinococcus radiodurans. However, only the bacterium Deinococcus has learned how to reassemble all the hundreds of fragments of its DNA in the appropriate sequence. Thus, Deinococcus has developed the ability to "survive the death", and we have figured out how this process works – says Miroslav Radman, Professor at the Necker Medical School in Paris and founder of the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences (MedILS) in Split.

Professor Radman was leading the research, in which another three Croatian researchers were involved Ksenija Zahradka (38), Dea Slade (25) and Mirjana Petranovic; (59) from the Institute "Rudjer Boškovic" in Zagreb. Molecular biologist Ksenija Zahradka, PhD., is the first author of the study to be published in the "Nature".

- We started the research back in 2002, during my postdoctoral study in the laboratory of Professor Radman in Paris. After returning to Zagreb, I continued the work in my home laboratory at the Rudjer Boškovic; Institute, in collaboration with Professor Mirjana Petranovic;, who has been my mentor for many years, and young and gifted molecular biologist Dea Slade. I am very happy and proud that the years of work under the leadership of Professor Radman resulted in such a success – says Ksenija Zahradka, announcing the continuation of research into extremophiles together with Professor Radman.

The discovery of the Croatian scientists is interesting because of many potential areas of application, as the process could be used for, among others, developing new drugs. – As an entirely harmless, desiccation-resistant bacterium, it may turn into the vector gene for bioremediation – environmental cleaning by means of targeted application of enzymes for decomposition of waste.

I am personally more interested in learning from Deinococcus how to bringing back to life our dead and half-dead neurons. I believe that the DNA repair mechanism that we found in this bacterium could open the door to new regenerative medicine. Finally, I consider Deinococcus No. 1 candidate for "planting" life on sterile planets – says Professor Radman, with two addresses placed under his study for the "Nature": the address of the Paris Laboratory for Evolutionary and Medical Molecular Genetics and the address of the MedILS in Split.

- I would like to underline that over 50 per cent of the experiments were done by Doctor Ksenija Zahradka at the Rudjer Boškovic Institute in Zagreb. This is the best answer to the question whether Croatia is a place for excellent scientific research – emphasizes Professor Radman, adding that a press conference will be held in Paris on October 5th, the publication date of the study in the "Nature".

- I believe that Inserm (the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research), Rudjer and MedILS will set up the strongest Deinococcus research group already this year. I very much look forward to the cooperation with physicists, whose knowledge is necessary for us to understand the molecular basis of desiccation, or extreme dehydration. Namely, dehydration is the most acute life hazard, and any significant research into this area is very scarce – concludes Radman.

First Scientist to Read the Genetic Code Surpassed

The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans was discovered some 50 years ago as a contaminant in meat cans sterilized by gamma radiation dozes 3 000 to 5 000 times higher than those lethal for humans. Over the past fifty years scientists have unsuccessfully tried to unveil the mysterious repair of scattered DNA.

Interestingly enough, Deinococcus radiodurans has over the past few years been the focus of interest of famous Craig Venter, whose former biotech firm Celera Genomics was the first to read the human genetic code in April 2000. Venter established a private institute several years ago, at which he studies, among other issues, Deinococcus radiodurans with Hamilton Smith, the Nobel Prize winner, and three hundred researchers. However, the group lead by Professor Radman was the first to unveil the secret.

- My first study of Deinococcus radiodurans started several years ago, while Ksenija Zahradka was engaged in her postdoctoral study in my Paris laboratory. Dea Slade, preparing her doctoral thesis under my mentorship, jointed us later on. The research was funded based on an agreement with Pliva. The project was more than risky, and the drawing up of the study for the "Nature" took more than one year – says Miroslav Radman.

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_________________________Hail Satan!If there were a verb meaning "to believe falsely," it would not have any significant first person, present indicative. - Ludwig Wittgenstein

I did not write it Downstairs. I wrote it possibly in a CoS SIG, and certainly in another messageboard that is not to do with Satanism.

To summarise, just for you, My view was firstly that this is a great advancement, but also that it seems to be hanging on quite a contingent, in saying that it can restore itself to life "as long as it can reconstitute its genome" (source). That, to Me, is like saying that I can restore Myself to life "as long as I can get My heart and brain working again".

However, that does not negate that it is still quite an advancement.

More discussion than that would, for My comfort, have to be in a SIG or at least Downstairs.

An amazing discovery to be sure, however, I can only imagine the slinging and flinging that will take place once this gets fully circulated.

Discoveries of this nature have a tendency to hit the back burner for a very long time while the respective parties with vested interests argue over unimportant factors. Maybe we'll get lucky and the research and development of practical usage for such a discovery will be relatively smooth.

Thank you for your summary and the link to the article, it is much appreciated.

I do understand your point of view and respect that fact that you do not wish to divulge about this further here.

However, speaking for myself only, science is not my forte, however i have a very strong vested interest in this area, and whilst i do not yet have the full understanding of the nuances of how this is all possible in the context that it has been presented in, i am also of like mind that this is a very great advancement in science and medicine

Definitely something that puts a very big smile on my face

Edited by tekku (10/13/0602:55 PM)

_________________________That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die~H.P. Lovecraft~

Thanks for sharing this great article, was really looking for something like this to come about! Just wondering how would the world accept this technology when it becomes applicable to say rejuvinating human cells, I second sir AmbientLogic hoping that we can all benefit from it in the end.

I found the very ability of this bacterium fascinating, as I was not aware that any living organism (whether simple or complex) had this unique natural mechanism.

It's interesting that one of the possible ways of using this discovery would be "planting" of life on planets with extreme conditions - which is the possible explanation of beginning of life on Earth given by James Watson upon discovering of the DNA structure: panspermia by civilisation of superior intelligence.

_________________________Hail Satan!If there were a verb meaning "to believe falsely," it would not have any significant first person, present indicative. - Ludwig Wittgenstein